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Public Administration

Well-trained public administrators are needed today at all levels of government. Fiscal constraints and public demands for responsive government make effective management a necessity. Some MPA graduates hold elective office while others hold policy-making positions in the civil service or other government positions. There is also a market for managerial skills in private and nonprofit agencies and in large corporations.

The MPA program through Shippensburg University is offered both on campus and in Harrisburg at the Dixon University Center. We normally offer three courses per semester on campus and two at the Dixon University Center on Front Street. We also have limited course offering during the summer.

Students are required to take ten 3 credit hour courses and complete a six hour internship.

Students who have over five years public administration or related experience can have part of or all of their internship waived.

A student can essentially go one night per week at the Dixon Center (Tuesday) and finish their coursework in two years. If a student takes courses on campus and is willing to go to the Dixon Center for a limited number of courses they can finish their course work in 1.5 years and sometimes one year and two summers.

Almost all courses are taught by full-time regular faculty members of Shippensburg University. All of our full-time faculty are PhDs. Occasionally we supplement our offerings by having practitioners teach an elective course.